Los Angeles to New York Empty Leg Flights: 1,207 Private Jet Repositioning Legs Over the Past Year

Every year, thousands of private jet operators reposition aircraft between New York and Los Angeles, the two busiest private aviation hubs in the United States. Most of that repositioning happens as empty legs: the jet must fly regardless, the seat is available, and the price drops sharply compared to a full charter. Over a rolling 12-month window of listings, SkyAccess has logged 1,207 empty leg flights on the New York (Teterboro) to Los Angeles (Van Nuys) corridor, making it one of the highest-volume city pairs in the marketplace.

This data is drawn from the SkyAccess listing database, which covers 5,000+ live listings at any given moment from 900+ FAA Part 135 certified charter operators. The 1,207 figure represents a flow of repositioning activity, not a live inventory snapshot; it includes both already-departed legs and future-dated listings within the rolling window.

Directional imbalance: New York sends more jets west

Of the 1,207 corridor legs, 698 originate from Teterboro (KTEB) bound for Van Nuys (KVNY), about 58% of the total. The reverse direction, Van Nuys to Teterboro, accounts for 509 legs. That directional gap of roughly 190 extra westbound legs reflects a documented dynamic in private aviation: New York-based operators fly demand-driven charters westward, then reposition empty back east. For travelers, the surplus of Teterboro-to-Van Nuys legs historically means more availability and tighter pricing in that direction.

Seasonality: spring is the peak, summer softens

The corridor does not run evenly through the year. Leg volume across the rolling 12-month window by broad season:

• Spring (February through April): 432 total legs, the busiest three-month stretch. This aligns with awards season, Coachella, and the surge of New York finance and media executives commuting west for Q1 meetings and content deals.
• Winter (November through January): 274 legs, a strong secondary peak driven by the holiday entertainment season, year-end deal-making, and the post-Thanksgiving shift toward warmer climates.
• Summer (May through August): 256 legs, slightly lower than winter in aggregate (256 versus 274), though the composition shifts. Westbound legs dominate as operators service leisure demand; eastbound legs thin out as Los Angeles studios reduce travel during production season.

The spring concentration is the most actionable data point for travelers. With over 144 legs per month on average during the February-to-April window, the probability of finding a same-week or next-day empty leg on this corridor is meaningfully higher than in other seasons.

Aircraft on this corridor

The New York to Los Angeles route is a cross-country haul of roughly 2,800 miles, which means it is almost entirely served by midsize, super-midsize, and heavy jets. Light jets with limited range rarely appear on this corridor. Typical aircraft on the Teterboro-Van Nuys run include the Bombardier Challenger series, Gulfstream G-IV and G-V family, and Dassault Falcon long-range models. These aircraft carry between 8 and 14 passengers on a whole-aircraft basis, with flight times of approximately 5 to 5.5 hours block-to-block.

Because SkyAccess lists whole-aircraft pricing only, an empty leg on this corridor is priced for the entire jet. At 25 to 75% below a comparable full charter (based on Avinode market data), a cross-country repositioning flight can be a substantial discount from a positioned charter that a New York or Los Angeles operator would otherwise quote.

Both airports: business-jet gateways, not commercial terminals

Neither Teterboro nor Van Nuys is a commercial airport. Teterboro Airport (KTEB) in Bergen County, New Jersey, sits 12 miles from Midtown Manhattan and is the primary business-jet gateway for the New York metropolitan area, handling more than 80,000 aircraft movements per year. Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in the San Fernando Valley serves a similar role on the West Coast, with one of the highest concentrations of Part 135 operators in the country.

Flying into these airports eliminates commercial terminal congestion, standard screening lines, and the 30-to-60-minute ground transfer that typically follows a commercial landing at a major hub. Departure is from a fixed-base operator (FBO) terminal with the jet ready at the posted time.

How to find a Teterboro to Van Nuys empty leg

SkyAccess lists empty legs live as operators post them. Because the corridor generates roughly 101 legs per month in peak season, availability updates frequently. Legs that post Monday for a Wednesday departure are common. Booking through SkyAccess empty leg flights delivers whole-aircraft pricing with no broker markup and no membership requirement.

Travelers can also review the Teterboro Airport page and the Van Nuys Airport page on SkyAccess for operator and flight details, or browse the Los Angeles to New York private jet route page for live pricing context and aircraft type availability.

This data is citable with attribution to SkyAccess. For same-day custom pulls, contact contact@skyaccess.com.

Updated October 1, 2026: counts now count each unique leg once (duplicate listing copies removed).

Frequently asked questions

How many empty leg flights fly between New York and Los Angeles?

SkyAccess logged 1,207 empty leg flights on the New York (Teterboro) to Los Angeles (Van Nuys) corridor over a rolling 12-month window of listings.

Which direction has more New York to Los Angeles empty legs?

Westbound leads: 698 of the 1,207 legs originate from Teterboro (KTEB) bound for Van Nuys (KVNY), about 58 percent, versus 509 legs in the reverse direction.

How much can you save on a New York to Los Angeles empty leg flight?

Empty leg flights are typically priced 25 to 75 percent below a comparable full charter, because the aircraft is already repositioning.